The Villain I Appear to Be
by dgj212
Summary: What if, on the day Izuku met All Might, Gentle was also there? What if, instead of a hero, it was a villain who saved the day? Villain!Izuku, but not evil.


Story inspired by Gentle! Title inspired by the song of the same name used in the Animated video on youtube: "Diamond Jack." I might be biased since I am a fan of web novels where the MC goes the villain route out of necessity than an actual desire to be evil and do bad things. I feel that a lot of the villain!Izuku fics actually have Izuku be evil/psychotic or make him descend into being evil for the pure sake of being evil. I feel that Izuku could be a pretty good villain without actually being evil or bloodthirsty. Read, enjoy, review!

I don't own BnHA

* * *

"Yes," the man in the screen muttered as he stroked his beard, "I can feel it in the air tonight," it was clearly day time, but the man continued, pretending that he wasn't filming himself with one hand that was obviously used to hold up the camera.

The audio quality wasn't that great and even if the camera wasn't shaking the video quality still probably wouldn't be that great. The best images of the villain were the ones he took in public bathrooms.

He was basically a guy with a ridiculous jacket that was a cross between a penguin tuxedo that had large gravity-defying collars and coattails that exposed his undershirt in a [V] fashion, a woolly scarf, two belts for some odd reason, and striped pants. He looked like the ringleader of circus group with terrible fashion senses.

Yet despite that, there was nothing else to watch. At least not for another fifteen minutes. So she did what anyone else would do. She cracked open her favourite carbonated drink, got some random junk food she had lying around, which was chocolate Midnight (a chocolate sculpted in the heroine's figure), and killed time with whatever bullshit the man on the screen was live streaming.

"This city...is in need of a proper villain...a villain full of chivalry and determination… yes…. Musutafu needs me, Gentle!" He introduced himself panning the camera down then up rapidly to get a full body view. It did not work. Not one bit. "Now my loyal viewers," she was not. "I'm sure all of you are just waiting with bated breaths as to what my next misdemeanour will be. Well, have no fear for I shall now reveal my latest caper! Inside this building, I happen to find myself on-"

"HANG ON!" A well-known voice cut Gentle off. That got her attention.

"Eh," Gentle let out as a shockwave seem to happen. The camera jumped everywhere. Gentle walked to the edge of whatever wall he was behind and the camera caught a glimpse of All Might's back! Gentle understandably jumped and dropped the camera which seemed to have apparently fallen off the building and into a tree. The screen was cracked and broken but it was still streaming apparently.

The girl watching the live stream raised her eyebrows. Then she shrugged as she typed something in the Livestream's chat.

**-ALL CHAT-**

**Allseeing3ye**: LOL Rip Gentle!

**Otanashi:** Least it's all Might! It's an honourable death-

**Tanuki:** Make him count back from a thousand and one in increments of seven all might!

**Sosukeboche:** YAAAAAAAS!

**Tanuki:** 1001.994.987...

**Uryumeada:** Rest in peace in you lousy bastard

**L0VD3LX:** NOOOOOOO! MY GENTLE! T_T

**F3lix:** This is stupid.

* * *

Tobita could not believe it. All Might, the greatest hero in Japan had finally come for him. It was an honour but what could he do?

Tobita was currently hiding behind an A.C. unit, he was also _definitely NOT_ trembling in fear that the greatest hero was only a few meters away from him.

Jitters of excitement that's all it was! Yeah, just...just nervous jitters...jitters that caused his whole body to shiver….

"_This is too much for my heart_," he muttered in a low voice. "_...well, there's always another day,_" he said to himself with a wry smile as cold sweat trickled down his face. He slowly began to make his way to the edge of the building where he would activate his quirk and runaway.

"That was plain reckless kid, you know that," All Might said, causing Tobita's skin to jump while his muscles locked up.

"I'm, I'm, I'm, s-sorry All Might!" A youth shouted.

"Hmm?" Tobita let out as he relaxed. He pulled out a recycled makeup mirror, got down on his tummy, wiggled forward and used it to peek around the corner. He saw All Might all-majestic form in a white tank-top and navy green pants with the All Might belt buckle, and before him was, judging from the uniform, a skinny middle school kid with messy green hair and freckles.

The kid was on the floor catching his breath for whatever reason.

_...He's not here for me!_ Tobita thought to himself in relief with a smile. Then he gained a depressed look. _I...I am the villain "Gentle," it's only natural that my schemes are hard to predict, even to the likes of All Might!_ He comforted himself. _Yes...only natural…_

[spoiler] It was not working.

"Jeez," he saw All Might rub the back of his head. "I'll break the lock so you can go downstairs," All Might said as he walked to the door and broke the handle off. Tobita and the green haired boy flinched at how easily he did it. He carefully placed in the ground before approaching the boy, he took out a sheet of paper that was folded in his pocket and handed it to the kid. "Good thing I had a few of these handy. Go downstairs and hand this slip to the people you find, explain it properly and tell them to send the bill to my agency. Well, good day, kid," All Might waved as he seemed prepared to do something.

"AH WAIT!" The boy shouted causing both older men to flinch. "There's...All Might, I…" the green haired boy seemed to hesitate. Then he closed his eyes and steeled himself before he shouted his question. "Can someone like me become a hero, even without a quirk!?"

Tobita gasped and from what he could see All Might seemed to be astounded as well. It was such a simple question that carried too much weight. Tobita understood right away. A simple [yes] or [no] simply won't do. [Yes] in any simple-minded fashion would only excite the boy, probably cause him to rush headlong into danger. [No] in any simple fashion, you devastate him in ways that only words can permanently scar.

"I," he seemed to hesitate again, "e-ev-everyone around me ha-have always called me ue- useless, that'd I, I'd never be able to do anything, let alone save someone. But, I've, I've always wanted to be a hero."

Tobita noticed something, All Might twitched, then his body began to smoke or let out steam or something. But the boy continued without noticing. Honestly, Tobita was in a bit of bind on who to focus on. On one hand, it was All Might, the most obvious choice, but on the hand, the boy, his words….

"I guess, I guess my motivation is to prove them wrong, to...t-to prove to myself more than anyone," he trembled that last part out but for the most part he was stuttering less, "to prove that even someone like me can be a hero. I really, I really want to save people with a fearless smile on my face, to give hope to those in despair, to be like you-" he stopped as he looked forward at skinny skeletal man with a hairstyle directly opposite of All Might's.

Tobita could understand the boy's stupor, he too was stunned at what happened to All Might. He suddenly shrunk down to the man before the boy.

"Wh-who-who..." the boy didn't have the strength to finish.

The skeletal man stared at the boy with piercing blues with black sclera, he sighed and said, "I am All Ma-KAAAH!" He suddenly sprayed blood out his mouth!

"WAAAAAAAAH! An imposter!" the kid shouted.

"N-n-no, I'm the real deal," the man said in a voice that was nowhere near as rousing as All Might's as he wiped his blood away. The man sat down against the railings before continuing his explanation, "You know how some guys suck in their gut and flex while they're at the pool? It's like that."

Had Tobita not seen in it he would have never believed it. But the short skinny guy with just skin over his bones was All Might.

_I have just bore witness to something I shouldn't have_, Tobita thought to himself in shock.

"No-no way," the youth said in disbelief.

"With a fearless smile, huh," All Might continued, ignoring the boy's shock. "There's plenty of fear behind that smile," All Might admitted to his company's surprise. "Fear that I might use my quirk on someone who's unexpectedly fragile, fear that I'll cause collateral damage, fear that I'll never be there in time to save someone. I want to save as many people as I can but I can only save those within my reach. So instead I smile, I smile to show the pressure of the heroes to the villains, and force them down to the shadows in order to reduce the number of people I need to save."

Both Tobita and the youth were silent as they listened to All Might speak. He sighed a bit as some blood leaked out the corner of his mouth. Using his left hand, he wiped away the blood before he used it to pull up his white t-shirt that looked baggy on him. "Look," he commanded.

The youth yelped loudly in horror while Tobita's eyes widened in disgust and shock as he let out a silent gasp.

"Gross huh?" He commented as he glanced at the scar in his abdomen, it looked like puncture wound that never fully healed and had a bunch of cracks trailing his body, right along the lines it actually looked bruise and a bit raw. "I got this five years ago, the docs actually had to remove my organs to patch me up. They told me that they honestly didn't know if I would make it."

"Five years...Ah, was it toxic chainsaw?"

"Hm," Tobita thought to himself.

Now that Tobita thought about it, he actually saw Toxic Chainsaw once when he was starting out and seeking support items. He was basically a cisgender villain with chains lining the arms and legs that acted like a chainsaw. Toxic was actually pretty clumsy at moving though, Tobita overheard from a support expert that to remedy that issue, Toxic used the chains to shoot toxic projectiles and uses the chainsaws on any hero who got close enough in order to not as much, hence the monocle: Toxic Chainsaw.

That said, he actually did have a really toxic personality.

"-a lot more than that lowlife to take me down."

Tobita was snapped out of his musings.

"The fight with the actual villain who did this damage was never made public, but you can see what I'm getting at, right? Heroes are people who risk their lives for the sake of others. This pretty little wound here left my body a mess. If that wasn't bad enough, I can't operate as a hero for more than three hours a day and that time limit is only going to get shorter with age and exertion. Tell me honestly, kid, the slime or sludge or whatever villain I saved you from, can you think of any way you could beat him without a quirk on the fly?"

The youth opened his mouth to speak but he closed it and shook his head.

"That's just how it is, kid." All Might continued as he stood up and began to make his way to the door he broke, "I can't in good conscience say you can be a hero without a quirk. A hero should be ready to risk his life in the pursuit of protecting others; charging head-first into a villain without a quirk to defend yourself is just moronic if not plain suicidal…. You know, cops are looked down on by society since they're not flashy, but their jobs are still important if not more so. There's also volunteer work like cleaning up garbage, building houses, helping others in need in soup kitchens, you know, the little things people neglect. Every bit helps." All Might opened the door. "It's not wrong to dream kid, but you need to step back and consider the reality. You can still help people, but a Pro Hero isn't in your cards. Sorry," All Might said as he disappeared inside the building.

The youth stood there, no doubt broken, unaware of his surroundings.

Tobita sat upright and let his head fall back on the AC unit he closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. He blew a sigh out his nose and opened his eyes. _A Pro Hero was never in my cards either, _he thought to himself.

He recalled his youth. He had to repeat a grade quite a few times, a lot of the hero courses never accepted him, everyone around him more or less assumed how his life would pool down into the gutters. Even his own parents never thought much of him.

"_Don't worry mother!"_ He recalled the upbeat words he said to his crying mother. "_I won't give up! I'll be a hero for sure! One day you would even be able to find my name in textbooks!_"

He spouted such things even after the principle berated him for his terrible grades, how he failed the provincial license exams four times...he had basically lost his final chance. Later after he was expelled, his own parents would kick him out and let him fend for himself.

He'll admit that he was depressed, but he held out hope. Yes, hope that the next day would be brighter, hope that his endless march, that his unyielding pursuit of heroism would bear fruit.

But those days were long gone. His dreams shattered in a day. Nah! In a single polite line:

"_I'm sorry, who are you again?"_

Tobita sighed as he stood up, straightening himself out. He noticed that the youth hadn't moved. He shrugged and approached the youth.

_Five years,_ He thought to himself, _...All For One, it has to be. _Tobita concluded. No one else has the power to harm All Might to this extent, to reduce him to mere bones. That and All For One had been particularly quiet for a while now.

He stood behind the boy then noticed his book bag on the floor. "Excuse me," he said politely as he began to riffle through the boy's things. Then he stumbled upon it, a damaged notebook labelled, "hero analysis for the future No. 13."

_Thirteen eh?_ Tobita glanced at youth, _you got twelve more of these?_ He pondered in amazement. He started browsing the pages. It was obviously the drawings and notes of a child but each image, each note, it all had a purpose. It broke down a hero's move and action as a fact that could be used later. Tobita smirked. _A hard worker, huh? _Tobita thought to himself as he looked at the notes, but once in a while he would come across a drawing that was amateurishly original. They all had a central theme but he couldn't quite put his fingers on it. He got his answer when he got to the final filled pages with All Might's huge autograph on it. The drawings were the boy mimicking All Might.

_All Might, eh? Are you a huge fan?_ He asked in his mind as he glanced at the youth's back. He gripped the book. _To save people with a fearless smile...just like All Might...my condolences._ He quietly offered the boy.

To have reality crush your hopes and dreams was one thing. To have your own personal hero crush your hopes and dreams using reality was another.

Tobita briefly closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and exhaled. When he opened them again, Gentle took action.

Gentle rummaged through the boy's things and found a marker. He gently took the cap off when he realized something. The marker would probably bleed through the page or two, so he flipped a few more pages and was about to write on it, stopped, thought about it, then got on his knees. He pressed the book on the ground and wrote with large letters in the best calligraphy he could manage. His undertaking done, he put the youth's possession back in his bag and stood up while dusting himself.

Gentle turned to find the boy still standing, staring into far off distance, no doubt still in a daze to the answer he received from All Might.

He tapped the boy in the head causing him to jump away in surprise with a small yelp. The boy turned to look at Gentle with huge bug-like eyes.

Gentle was put off a bit by the boy's confused gaze that he forgot the line he was going to say and instead, with a stoic look, lifted a hand that held the boy's bag by the strap.

"Ah!" The boy let in understanding, "Th-thankyou sir, sorry for the trouble," the boy said politely while bowing before receiving his bag.

After the boy secured his possessions, he gave Gentle a good gander, looking him up and down.

"W-wa-I, was I here for a while," he stuttered out, "I'm s-sor-I'm very sorry to have made you worry!" he apologized again with a bow he kept.

It would seem that the boy had mistaken Gentle for a hero. While Gentle was flattered, he really did feel like correcting the boy, but it would ruin the image he wanted to build. So instead he said nothing and produced a clean handkerchief from his pocket and held it out to the boy.

"Huh?" The boy let out in confusion as he looked up. "Ah…." He let out, unsure of what was happening.

Gentle kept a stoic look and waved the handkerchief, prompting him to grab it.

"Um, I'm, I'm fine," the boy said with a small smile, yet Gentle still waved the handkerchief. "Rea-really I'm fine, ho-honest, I, I don't need it," he said, his eyes slightly beating.

"Boy," he began, "it's alright. Humans need to cry, it's how we cope," he was sure there was a more scientific was probably a better explanation in general, but he was under the gun, so to speak, so he improvised. "The longer you ignore it, the more it'll gnaw away at your thoughts. If you cry, you can deal with it and move forward."

"But," the boy began, he looked down, "I, I'm not, I…." Gentle noticed something, liquid dripping to the ground. "I...I," the boy looked up a bit, giving gentle a good enough view of his tear ridden face. The boy seemed like he was trying to hold it back, but he couldn't.

He collapsed to his knees. Tears that he held back began to drop. "I-I..." he tried once more but in the end, he bawled.

He cried without restraint.

He had his head down as tears streamed down his cheeks. Innocent dreams turned harmful. Hopes turned to despair.

Guilty as he felt for provoking such a reaction, Gentle was honestly more unnerved by the amount of tears the boy was crying out, it was quickly becoming a puddle! He shrugged the thought off and kneeled next to the boy, making sure not to soak his clothes in the pool of tears.

He held up the handkerchief in front of the boy, who glanced at it with tears leaking out of his eyes, Gentle offered a simple smile.

"Young man, cry to your heart's content," he said, "cry and get it out. When you're done, stand up and move forward."

The boy's shaky hand slowly reach up and accepted the fabric. Gentle stood up and smiled down on the boy.

"T-th-thankyou," the boy uttered, tears still leaking down his face.

"Think nothing of it," Gentle was shaking with joy inside, the boy seemed like his slowly getting over his sadness and even looking back at him with a tiny bit of awe! Gentle was ecstatic! But he controlled himself, as much as he wanted to revel in his (small) achievement, he couldn't foul it up at the end. "What is your name, young man?"

"Ik-*sniff*-Izuku Mi-Midoriya, sir," he as said in between sniffles, he held the handkerchief but he had not used it.

"Izuku Midoriya," Gentle repeated, "All Might dismissed you, that without a quirk you could not fight those who use and abuse them. But I see great things within you," memories of himself as a kid, memories of people laughing and telling him off, memories of his parent's disappointed gazes flashed through his mind. He placed his hands on Izuku's shoulders. "Truthfully, I see myself within you."

He was stunned by his words, Gentle could tell.

"I, Gentle, would like to train you."

"Uh," Midoriya let out in surprise, "Gen-Gentle?" he said.

"That is right," he said with a smile. He outstretched his hand to Izuku. Izuku got the hint and reached out and grabbed. "I will uplift you," Gentle continued as he physically lifted Izuku up to his feet, "IN-to a proper man and MA_A_A_A_A_A_Rvellous villain."

"..." Midoriya blinked, the tears had stopped. "Sorry what," he asked with a fishlike look in his eyes.

"I, the chivalrous villain, Gentle, will train you to be a proper villain."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...Ummmmmmmmm..."

* * *

"I did not think he would do that," Gentle admitted to himself as he stealthily stalked Midoriya from the rooftop of the buildings.

See, Midoriya had rapidly, while still being polite, rejected the offer and ran as fast as he could. Honestly, it would have been hilarious had Gentle not been hurt by the action.

So now he was stalking Midoriya.

No, he wasn't out for revenge, he was fully committed to training the boy. And he knew he had hope because, while the boy was unaware of Gentle stalking him, he was staring at the handkerchief Gentle had given him. There was hope yet! So he was going to try his hardest to convince him.

Truthfully Midoriya was wondering if the fabric had prints or DNA the police could lift off it.

The two quickly ran into a crowd.

"Ah, what the-" Gentle said as he got near the edge of the roof and took out a salvaged toy spyglass someone had "donated" to his cause at the park.

It was in a neat little thing called a "lost and found box," he claimed all the items.

"Ohhhhh," he let out. Some villain was running wild with a hostage and destroying an entire lane filled with tons of heroes. "Well...I think I pushed my lu-ah? HM?" He got a good look at the villain, some sort of sludge villain. "Ah, that fellow. Netzi Nechi," a villain with a quirk that made his body malleable and able to possess other people and use their quirk. The end result always being death to host, hence his code name, Killer Nechi.

"Well..." he let out as he looked at all the heroes. It seems the hostage, some boy with an explosion quirk of some sort, was making a mess of things and the heroes can't get close. "...that is not going to end well," Gentle commented.

He kept looking until he found All Might's deflated form. "Oh ho! All Might," Gentle smiled, surely Japan's number one hero ca-and he left.

All Might turned his body away from the crowd, cast his head down in what Gentle could only assume is sadness mixed with shame, and walked away from the scene.

_He reached his limit it seems,_ Gentle concluded. Gentle sighed and put his spyglass away. He looked at the crowd, he managed to catch some green hair youth in a middle school uniform pushing his way through the crowd to see what was going on.

"Oh, there you are," Gentle said as he looked at Midoriya. Truthfully Gentle could not tell if the boy had black hair with green highlights or if he had green hair with uber-black shadows, but it made it easier to spot him. He looked back at Killer Nechi. He offered the boy in Nechi's clutches his condolences, he was sure the heroes would save him but it's not going to be pretty.

He spared Midoriya one last look before he turned away. "I'll look for you later." He would have kept following the boy but he was sure that if he did someone from the group of heroes would catch him, especially with that number.

He began to hum a tune as he walked away.

"_HEY! STOP YOU CRAZY KID!_" Gentle heard the faint shout. Gentle turned and his eyes shot wide open. Midoriya had run straight to the villain and attacked him. He gasped as another memory flashed through his head.

The memory of a man falling. He tried to use his quirk to save him, but in the end, he had messed up, hindering the pro hero doing the rescue and the man ended up with severe injuries because he tried to help.

Midoriya seemed to have bought the explosion boy some time and even let him breathe, but that was it. Still...the heroes were too hesitant to do anything yet this boy found within himself the courage to do all that he could. Even despite everything All Might had said to him. Even despite the reality.

"_Don't worry mother! I won't give up! I'll be a hero for sure!"_

Gentle blinked when he realized that he was clutching his chest with his hand. His body was trembling and his eyes were watering. The boy really did remind him so much of himself.

Gentle closed his eyes, took a deep breath through his nose, and blew out the emotions plaguing his heart. He opened his eyes and steeled his nerves.

Gentle moved through the air!

**Gentle's quirk, elasticity, allows him to bestow any object he touches with the property of elasticity. That includes the air! He can not, however, deactivate the effect. It deactivates on its own after a certain amount of time passes.**

He created "trampolines" in midair. He used a series of flips and spins combined with trampolines to help kill his momentum as he made his way down.

"HAVE NO FEAR," he shouted catching everyone's attention. "FOR I!" He landed with a spin in front of the Killer Nechi, who had the explosion boy in his chest/face and Midoriya in his left hand, with both hands raised and shouted: "THE CHIVALROUS VILLAIN, GENTLE, IS HERE!"

"CRAP! ANOTHER VILLAIN!" One of the heroes shouted.

"Oh great, the situation keeps escalating!" Someone else shouted.

"Eh? Gentle?" Nechi said in surprise, his mouth over his hostage and Midoriya in his left hand. He smiled. "Nice timing, you're the guy who makes trampolines right? Get us out of here and I can hook you up wit-"

"Unhand those youths, you barbaric knave!" Gentle shouted as he pointed at the other villain.

"...Huh?" Nechi let out in such a guttural manner.

"Huh?" the heroes within earshot let out in confusion.

"I will not stand for this! Kidnapping and harming children, have you no shame! Nay! Honour as a man? Release them at once!"

For while the only sound that could be heard is the crackling of fire and secondary explosions going off around the different businesses that were on fire.

"Oh right," Nechi groaned, "you're also a moron."

"I'm confused what's going on," one of the heroes asked.

"Look, gentle, I dunno what kind schtick you're going for right now, BUT WE'RE SURROUNDED BY FUCKING HEROES!"

"Nechi, I'm not a violent man, but I will get rough with you if you don't unhand those boys. However," gentle brought an index finger up, "if you do, I give you my word that I will help you escape."

"Rough with-WE'RE ON THE SAME GODDAMN SIDE!"

"Hm? Whatever do you mean?" Gentled asked with a confused tone while slightly tilting his head.

"Wha-do i, ARE YOU FUCKING WITH ME! WE'RE BOTH FUCKING VILLAINS!"

"I'm not seeing the connection here," Gentle admitted.

"WE'RE VILLAINS! THEY'RE HEROES! WE'RE ON THE SAME GODDAMN TEAM, MOROOOOON!"

"I literally have no idea what's going on right now," some other hero said.

"Team? That's odd. I don't recall working with you? Have we perhaps shared a draft together," Gentle inquired.

"Gentle, you're motivating me to violence right now," Nechi warned.

"I recall..." Gentle continued unhindered nor intimidated, "this is the first time we've actually spoken, in fact, it's the first time I've actually laid my eyes on you." Nechi growled. "So then, if I may ask, how so are we allies?"

"Oh my gawd, Gentle, I will kick your ass if you don't screw your head on right!"

"Final warning, Nechi," Gentle moved his arm in a flamboyant fashion around himself, "unhand them."

"Unhand THIS!" Nechi threw a lump of what Gentle could only assume is a fist at him. Thankfully he had the foresight to create an elastic barrier using his earlier flamboyant motion!

Nechi did not have a typical body, so instead of his "hand" being "rebounded," the force instead rippled through him like water. It did, however, look effective! "Uwa! Whadahell!"

Gentle did not waste the opportunity. He quickly spun around his air barrier, putting up another barrier in the process, and grabbed Izuku by his school uniform.

"Not a chance!" Nechi yelled as he pulled Izuku back, away from Gentle. But Gentle had already bestowed Izuku's uniform with elasticity. When Nechi pulled Izuku away gentle held on to uniform as it elongated. "The fuck?"

"You are physically gifted, I grant you that, no doubt a better fighter than I," Gentle said, putting both his hand on the uniform, pulling on it. "But I have more experience achieving my goals without a bloody mess! Apologies young man," Gentle addressed to Midoriya, "this might be a tight squeeze!" Gentle pulled with all his might!

"WAAAAAAAAH!" Izuku yelled as he was pulled forward by his uniform despite Nechi's vice-like grip! Sadly, while Izuku was able to escape, his pant's weren't lucky. He was pretty much in his black button-up middle school shirt and his All Might whities. "Oomph!" Izuku let out as he collided with Gentle, who caught him with his arms

"That's one," Gentle said as he stood the boy properly, "Get to the heroes," he told Midoriya, who despite his embarrassment, nodded and ran behind Gentle to the heroes, in front of the crowd.

"Damn it!" Nechi yelled launching another punch but it rebounded against the second shield Gentle made, "Gah! When did you-"

Gentle didn't bother acknowledging the query, he once again tried to take advantage of Nechi's confusion and save the hostage!

However, Nechi had learned from his mistake and backed away before Gentle could get a grip on the boy's clothes. Nechi threw a swipe with his right "arm" but Gentle ducked and put both hands on the ground. Nechi pulled his arm back over for another punch but before he could release it, Gentle had launched himself a couple feet above Nechi. Nechi tried to adjust but he ended up being off balance because the ground has become unstable like a trampoline. Every step Nechi took would send ripples through his body like a wave, but either from instinct or past experience, Nechi was able to find his balance and adjust his attack with frightening speed. Sadly by the time he did, Gentle was already gone.

"Wha? AH!" He turned around to see Gentle spinning around in a circle around him, "the hell are-CRAP!" Nechi just realized that Gentle was attempting to cage him, unaware that Gentle's quirk deactivates on its own.

Nechi quickly tried to move, but Gentle had already seen his intentions! Gentle quickly used his quirk to create scaffoldings for his arms and legs and used it to propel himself forward. He quickly created an air barrier, he doubted it would have kept Nechi in but considering he was trying to take over a boy's body, he was sure it would do the job!

"Da-Damn you!" Nechi cursed and tried a few more punches, only for the shockwaves to ride through his body again.

"It's no use! Gentle shouted as he quickly encircled Nechi.

"DAMN IT!" Nechi shouted when he found he couldn't escape."Gentle, you bastard! When did you decide to start playing hero!"

"NAY!" Gentle shouted. "This, knave, is an act of villainy!"

"How da fuck you figure!" Nechi tried to find gaps in the wind barriers but finding them to be too narrow.

"A hero does what he pleases in respect to the laws. My acts of villain have always been to do what I desire in spite of them!" Gentle created a scaffold for his foot and jumped up, trusting his memory and quirk and lifted both his hands above his hands. "And my act this day! Despite the laws! Despite the heroes! My desire is to remove scum from my sight! **GENTLE SANDWICH**!" He shouted as he brought his hands down through the gap creating layers of air barriers from top to bottom, squishing Nechi down.

"GAH!" Nechi let out as the layers squashed his large form down as if he was playdough. Gentle himself didn't like the move much less think of it as elegant, but it was necessary.

The boy was still covered by Nechi's body and now underneath the layers of air barriers, but now Gentle has a good opportunity to grab him! He quickly rushed forward and reached out to grab the boy.

Sadly, there was one thing Gentle forgot about Nechi. His body was malleable.

"Gotchu," Nechi shouted with a squashed grin as his hands gripped Gentle's arms by the wrist. Nechi gripped hard, eliciting a pained cry from Gentle. "Finally gotcha, bastard."

Gentle looked distraught and pained for a moment before he smiled. "Well now, knave. Imagine my SURPRISE!"

"WHAT!"

Gentle Had just pulled Nechi's arm's out like taffy! Gentle continued to pull it in the direction of the heroes, gripping what he could with all his might and pulled!

"Ha-HA!" Gentle shouted. "What stroke of luck. Say, old boy," he forced out, "do you know what happens when you stretch a strip of a rubber band and release it from both ends?"

"What!?"

"FAIR LADY," Gentle shouted as he continued to move forward, inch by inch.

"Hm?" Mount Lady out loudly before she pointed to herself. She had situated herself near the edge of the crowd.

"I HATE TO IMPOSE ON A MAIDEN! MUCH LESS INFLICT PAIN!" He shouted, the muscles in his arms straining. "BUT I TRUST YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO!"

She had a very confused look. She turned her head to face Midoriya, still without pants, who said something to her. She slammed her fist on top of her palm while her mouth gaped a bit. "EVERYONE," she shouted, "BACK AWAY! I NEED SPACE," she shouted as she started to grow.

"UGH! HEY! LET GO!" Nechi yelled as he tried to pull himself back, using his "feet" to hold himself to the broken concrete, unaware that he was helping worsen his situation.

_He got it huh, _Gentle thought to himself with a smile as he glanced at Midoriya. "Very poor choice of words, Nechi. YOUNG MAN!" He shouted behind him, "YOU HAVE A STRONG QUIRK! WHY NOT SHOW IT OFF!"

The boy Nechi had captive underneath Gentle's gentle sandwich layers wretched his mouth free. "FUCK YOU! AND YOU!" He blew his hands free thanks to Nechi's body being stretched like a mochi.

"Ah hey, wait," he said, realizing what was about to happen, "I-I change my mind!"

"GIT DA FUCK OFF ME! DIEEEEEEEE!" He used his hands to produce a large explosion that cut the last piece of resistance just as Gentle quickly released his grip!

"AAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Nechi shot forward like a speeding bullet, Gentle barely able to marvel at how fast the villain flew right into Mount Lady's awaiting palm. She quickly slammed it down on the concrete!

"Yeow! That stung," she whined. "It's all slimy~"

The crowd cheered.

"QUICK!" Death Arms, a muscled hero, shouted. "Collect all the remaining goop from this villains!" Right away a bunch of heroes quickly rush to where the boy who was held captive was, navigating around a few air barriers that had not disappeared, a few tended to the fires, most started looking for bits and pieces of the villain. The boy started shouting he was fine, but he didn't seem like he wanted to move.

"Tuckered out, huh," Gentled laughed out while wiping his brow. He himself felt like collapsing, but that would send the wrong message. He bore through the fatigue and strolled forward as suave as he could.

"Another crime, masterfully done," he complimented himself out loud as he patted his hands clean.

"Ah, hey," Gentle stopped to see that Death Arms had walked in front of him, placed his very large hand on Gentle shoulder and rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand. "Look I-ah, I appreciate your help."

"Think nothing of it, chap!" Gentle said enthusiastically while petting Death Arm's cuff on the hand that was on his shoulder, "This was just another crime masterfully done!"

"S-see that's the thing. I appreciate the help but I'm a hero and well, I can't let you go. Even if you weren't a villain."

"Ah," Gentle gaped, yet he still held an awkward smile.

"That's right," a voice said behind him as he felt another hand fall on his shoulder. Gentle turned his head and torso just enough to see a man with a yellow cape, a white bodysuit, and a bird mask standing behind him. "And you _are_ a villain, so..."

"Hmm, I see," Gentle said, "quite the conundrum I suppose, but not unexpected. After all, this is the territory we inhabit. Well, better luck next time, gents!" As soon as he said that he pulled on Death Arm's cuffs with his left hand before either of the heroes could react! He quickly released the cuff, allowing it to shoot back to Deatharm's hand.

"AAAH!" The tall muscled hero shouted, releasing his grip on Gentle. Gentle quickly grabbed the other hero's hand and did a spin, dragging the hero in front of Death Arms! His right hand he was able to grab the hero's shirt and quickly pulled the shirt while using his quirk. Gentle then, predictably, released it!

"OOOOOOOH!" The white-clad hero shouted while grabbing his chest with both hands.

Gentle quickly made the ground elastic and both heroes lost their footing.

Before either hero could recover, Gentle quickly made more air barriers that he used as a trampoline and quickly made it to the rooftop of a nearby building.

"Ladies and Gents, I'm afraid today's show has come to a close! Let this be known as another crime, masterfully pulled off by I, G-"

Before he could finish, a bunch of tendrils made of wood wrapped around him.

"I'm thankful for the help," Kamui said, "I really am. But we still can't let you go. Also, you probably shouldn't gloat until after your sure your far away enough."

"Hmm, I see," Gentle said as he pushed apart the wooden appendages.

"HUH?" Kumui woods let out in surprise.

"Thank you for the advice, young man!" Gentle said as he quickly freed himself.

"Ah! Hey! Wait!" Kamui said as he tried to manipulate the wooden tendril but found that it wasn't behaving the way it should. "What-why, what's going on!?"

"Let this be the day you remember as the day you nearly caught, I, Gentle, the Chivalrous Villain!"

"GET BACK HERE!" Another hero, one with a jet pack, shouted as he along with a few others chased Gentle.

* * *

The day before was...well Izuku was not going to forget about it any time soon.

First, he was attacked by a villain. Then he was saved by All Might. Then he stuck to All Might like glue. He learned the truth about All Might and in turn had the blunt truth take a swing at his heart. And then after that, he was approached by a villain who wanted to train him into a villain! He ran away, but then he saw the same villain that had attacked him earlier attacking Bakugo, of all people! Then he attacked the villain on what felt like autopilot. And to add to that, he was rescued from the villain by the other villain who wanted to make him a villain.

It was...a lot.

Izuku got scolded by both the heroes and his mother, for a tiny a moment.

See, he did his get his pants back but...his all might whities was on the local news. Thankfully he wasn't a meme or something, so far anyway, and the image was pretty blurry but...yeah. Still, Izuku was not looking forward to the school day.

Hopefully, it wouldn't last long, anything related to his...pants-less rescue.

He sighed, just thinking about what everyone was going to say.

He kept walking, making his way to school when he turned the corner and was greeted by the sight of Gentle in a red and black uniform with an accompanying red safety helmet, getting on a delivery moped.

"Huh?" Izuku let out catching Gentle's attention.

"Hm?" Gentle let out as he noticed Izuku. "Ah! Midoriya!" He called out with a smile causing Izuku to jump in fright. "What fortunate luck that we ran into each other this fine morning. Or is it fate I wonder?"

"Uh," Izuku let out in a whine, quickly turned and-

"AH! Wait, I want to apologize!" Gentle quickly said, stopping the boy in his tracks.

"Huh?" He turned to see Gentle bowing.

"I apologize, that was rude of me. Yesterday on the rooftop. And also, I apologize for eavesdropping. It was not my intent," Gentle explained.

"W-wait, you were there?" Izuku said, his eyes going wide with horror.

"I'm afraid so," Gentle said as he raised his head, "I was there before you and _you know who_ arrived," he said that last bit in a loud whisper, very clearly avoiding having to say All Might. Izuku could only gap in horror. A villain knew All Might's secret. A VILLAIN KN- "and when I heard your story I couldn't help but see myself within you."

"Huh?" Izuku blinked, "in me?"

"Yes. I've actually studied to be a hero but...I didn't make the cut," Gentle explained. "To be honest, when I heard your tale, I put an image on you. I attempted to foist a narrative on you. That...that was incredibly rude of me, and I hope that you would find it in yourself to forgive me."

"Well," Izuku relaxed a little as he rubbed the back of his head, "Al-alright," Izuku said, resisting the urge to swallow in nervousness. "But, you, you have to promise not to talk about what you heard on the roof." it was a long shot but Izuku felt compelled to try. Sure, he wasn't feeling that great about All Might. But he was still All Might. Izuku owed him that much at least.

"That was already my intention," Gentle said in relief. "I promise that I will keep that promise and not tell another soul what I heard that day on that rooftop."

Izuku nodded, but he wasn't sure he could trust villain, regardless if he was in or out of costume at the moment.

"Well with that out of the way," Gentle said as he straightened himself. "Midoriya," he began as he approached the green haired kid who twitched at the mention of his name. "Please know that I was serious about what I said the day before. I learned my error but it did not sway my heart. I would like to pass my wisdom on to you. Knowledge about heroism, villainy, gentleman nature and whatever else I can offer. I saw that it was wrong of me to impose my path on a youth, such as yourself, with your whole life ahead of you. I will impart all that I can, and in the end, what you chose to do with it is up to you. Hero, villain, or a doctor or an engineer, a writer even. The choice is yours."

Izuku was speechless. He had no idea what to say or how to even react.

"Well, later young man!" gentle quickly said as he got on the moped, surprising Izuku with his brisk movements. "I have work to do and you have school! Good Luck!"

"Ah! Hey, wait!" Izuku quickly said but Gentle was already driving.

"Don't worry! We'll meet again!" Izuku heard Gentle shout as he drove away.

* * *

Unforgettable events were piling up one after another for Izuku, it seems.

Turns out he was right, people had recognized him on TV. Thankfully whatever everyone was going to say or do was limited thanks to Bakugo's mood, and people were inclined to not risk setting him off.

That entire day, Bakugo didn't even look at Izuku, much less talk to him about what happened yesterday. He even ignored his friends who now directed anxious looks at Bakugo. For Izuku, it felt like Bakugo was trying to distance himself from, well, everything. Izuku would have tried talking to him or his friends, but Izuku was still afraid of them.

So in the end, he just tried to go back to normal. When lunch came around he found himself in a secluded spot outside with his backpack as he ate his mother's boxed lunch. Mulling over what Gentle said. He seemed very kind and sincere, he even saved his and Bakugo's life the day before. But...the man was still a villain.

Izuku shook his head as he tried to get the thought of his mind. He tried focusing on something else...like All Might's signature.

He froze.

He forgot about that!

He quickly set his lunch to the side and dug out his notebook, the burnt one with All Might's signature on it.

He wouldn't lie. Despite everything, he still couldn't help but feel a bit happy at having a large All Might signature on his notebook. Then he noticed something. He could barely it out through the page but it was definitely black. He turned the page to see that someone had written on the next page (right page) to avoid tainting the page All Might wrote his signature on.

It read: **_For the young man with hopes and dreams; never lose your heart or your drive. You can be anything and everything you wish to be, as long as you are willing to work for it. _**

_**-The chivalrous Villain, Gentle.**_

Followed by a neat, cursive signature: **Gentle.**

Drops of liquid hit the page. Izuku realized that he was crying. But he wasn't sad.

* * *

**[Author's note]**

This took me a while to finish. Just got the urge to finish it. I felt that Gentle would be very eager to train Izuku, and fail upwards the Saitama way. He would definitely commit a crime, but his crimes were more to help others or to prove a point.

Not planning on making this long, might go M but for now I want simple. Just something that I felt like writing. If anyone likes any ideas in this fic, help yourself and send me a link. I like to read too!


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